Twenty-First Century Populism: The Spectre of Western European ...

74 Twenty-First Century Populism
core SPÖ voters − in a state sector which had once been the pride and bastion
of the Austrian Social Democracy. Because older workers were hit hardest,
the government relied on early retirement schemes as a means of adjusting
the labour supply. However, this pushed social expenditure to unsustainable
levels (27.4 per cent of GDP in 1991). With nearly 70 per cent of all social
spending absorbed by the pension system, painful austerity measures were
politically costly, but unavoidable, if Austria was to meet the criteria for EMU
entry. Populist actors like Haider, therefore, were able to play on and exploit
the fears associated with these changes and appeal to those negatively
affected.
Probably no external factor contributed more to the rise of rightwing
popu lism in Austria than the issue of foreign workers and immigrants.
Although Austria had relied on Gastarbeiter since the 1960s to help reduce
labour market costs and keep consumer prices lower than forecast, the fall
of the Iron Curtain presented new challenges. The availability of a pool of
highly skilled but relatively cheap labour in their immediate vicinity
allowed Austrian companies to move low-value added production across the
border. Although this benefited the economy on the whole, its impact on
the Austrian workforce was uneven, penalizing low-skilled labourers and
depressing overall wage levels. This was compounded by a sharp increase in
non-labour-related asylum seekers from the former Yugoslavia and other
Eastern European countries as well as illegal day labourers (BfWuS, 1992).
Consequently, the total share of foreigners was close to ten per cent of the
population and 8.8 per cent of the total workforce (Wils and Fassmann,
1994: 342). The situation was especially difficult in Vienna, where immigrants
were often channelled into urban ghettos, resulting in high concentrations
in some areas. Although Vienna remained generally a safe city, there
was a noticeable rise in crime, allowing the popular press and populist politicians
to paint a dark picture and thus exacerbate anti-foreigner sentiments.
We can conclude therefore that the specific political arrangements of
Austria’s post-war model created a range of opportunities for populist agency.
The latter was increasingly successful as structural opportunities were
boosted by the political and economic changes that occurred from the
1980s onwards.
Populist agency
The quintessential historical model for Austrian populists remains the
former mayor of Vienna, Karl Lueger (1844−1910). Acclaimed for his landmark
communal and social reforms, Lueger was also notorious for his anti-
Semitism and xenophobia as he campaigned in Vienna against the influx of
other ethnic groups from the far-flung Habsburg Empire. Like populists
later, Lueger employed hate speech and the use of scapegoats to mobilize
support, but subordinated ideology to political opportunism.